<p>I don’t know. I assume some have health insurance either through legal spouse or through the job that provides benefits.</p>
<p>I hoped that the issue of health insurance would be addressed in (now probably dead) immigration bill. The big deal was that illegal immigrants, while on probationary status, could not apply for federal means tested benefits. In my, probably unpopular, opinion, this should have included both free ER visits and subsidies for health insurance that they should be required to have.</p>
<p>We had a meeting today with a second insurance broker (we’ve used this agency in the past) and made our decision on a new medical plan as of Sept. 1. We’ve decided on the high deductible Emblem plan (we currently have the more traditional Emblem plan but price is going up from $24,000/yr to $40,000/yr as of Sept. 1). In addition, we are getting a cheap supplemental plan that helps to defray some of the out of pocket costs of reaching the deductible. This makes the most sense for us and our business.</p>
<p>Now, as far as our employees go (2 full time single guys), we are going to pay the full cost of this high deductible plan for them. We are not going to fund an HSA for them. We are not going to purchase the supplemental plan for them. They are going to be on their own if they choose such additional options. Enough is enough. We can’t do it anymore.</p>
<p>The policy is on a month to month basis so if at any time we decide we don’t like it, we can easily change to something else. When the ACA plans roll out, maybe we’ll take a look at them.</p>
<p>My sister just informed me that our local OBY office has decided NOT TO ACCEPT ANY INSURANCE PLANS (other than medicaid). This is my big fear—that more and more of the local doctors are going to stop accepting insurance plans. For people living close to a city, this may not be a problem. However, for people living our here (small community at least a 2 hour drive to the closest city), this is a big problem. I don’t want to have to drive 2 hours away to find a doctor that will accept insurance. </p>
<p>Any idea if doctors are even going to accept patients on the new Obama plans?</p>
Then you go without insurance and pay the tax penalty.</p>
<p>But if a person earns too much money to qualify for a subsidy but is unable to pay for a bronze level plan because of mortgage, huge debt load, and college tuition, it sounds to me like priorities might be skewed somewhat.</p>
<p>“But if a person earns too much money to qualify for a subsidy but is unable to pay for a bronze level plan because of mortgage, huge debt load, and college tuition, it sounds to me like priorities might be skewed somewhat.”</p>
<p>Unlikely that people intend to get in that situation. Jobs can come and go, unexpectedly, along with accompanying insurance. You could be making the big bucks, secure in your job, something happens and now your family has less income and no insurance. Possibly still too much to get subsidies, but it certainly doesn’t help that now you are required to pay for a certain level of insurance.</p>
<p>The only thing consistent in peoples lives is that things change.</p>
<p>Our current premium for a high deductible plan for a family of 4 with the oldest being 59 is $1100/month. Under the ACA exchange it would rise to $1600 with LESS coverage (silver level) with an EPO and not a PPO network. So my priorities are skewed for not wanting to pay more…for less…for a product for which I have been voluntarily paying ( and subsidizing goodness knows how many millions of freeloaders)…but now have an option to opt out and pay a rather low penalty. </p>
<p>Base line income to qualify for subsidies is not geographically adjusted. Sorry 91K in rural Ohio is not the same as 91K in Bay Area of CA.</p>
<p>What a mess. But what fun to try and game the system…it begs one to do so…</p>
<p>And if you earn one dollar more than the income level for subsidies, you pay the full amount for insurance. There is no sliding scale. So there will be even more incentive for payments under the table for odd jobs, freelance work, etc.</p>
<p>Well, I personally would prefer a single payer system, funded by higher taxes. So in my ideal world, that family with the high mortgage, high debt, and big tuition bills would also have a higher tax bill… but the IRS is always happy to negotiate a payment plan. </p>
<p>Health care is a necessity of life – just like food and shelter. The difference is that it is not a day-to-day necessity for many – and the need for the expensive stuff often crops up at unexpected times. </p>
<p>I am quite sure that the people who unexpectedly lose their jobs will be much, much better off under Obamacare than they were under the old system – COBRA premiums tended to be quite high, and anyone with a pre-existing condition would have a tough time buying insurance on their own. A “pre-existing condition” was just about anything the insurance company wanted it to be.</p>
<p>The subsidies vary depending on income, TatinG. It’s like need-based financial aid for college. At some point, you don’t get need-based financial aid and at some point, you don’t get a subsidy for health insurance. </p>
<p>And I’m with calmom. Implementing universal health care would be much easier if that way.</p>
<p>The ACA creates an incentive for employers to just have part-time workers. School districts and small colleges are putting some staff on part-time: librarians, cafeteria workers, etc. in order to avoid the expense. The last jobs report I saw had a big increase in the number of part-time workers.</p>
<p>“But for those of us who want to understand how it impacts the country as a whole, it is very complex.”</p>
<p>Or even our states, counties, or cities. Locally I am concerned that the exchanges “must” provide adequate mental health providers, when we have never had that. Insurance companies have been notorious for giving out names of providers that where not on their panels, leaving office managers to be the ones to break it to patients in tears, or providers to get stuck with bills that get denied.</p>
<p>Again, from an article recently in our paper, going over the limit by even one dollar was going to be costing people thousands. Not exactly ‘not much’.</p>
<p>It was in our paper in the last few days. I’d have to look it up to post.</p>
<p>'We had COBRA for 18 months. Our COBRA family plan was less than even the lowest tier plan. Our deductibles were lower, too."</p>
<p>Based upon what a retiring person at my company told me, our COBRA plan is about 14K/yr for a family. Based upon initial estimates, the silver plan costs over 19K/yr in my state. I realize that isn’t the final number, but it is possible that we will be paying health insurance costs ourselves for ten years (at least that’s my hope). The company plan is far superior to the silver plan, covering everything with minimal cost, copays and deductibles. I think we went over this before, but it seems like it may be quite variable depending upon your state and your company’s COBRA plan. It would be an awful deal for us.</p>
<p>The numbers are our current pre ACA policy. We are up for renewal in November…our broker expects at least a minimum 50% increase for this policy (with a worst case being a doubling of the premium). Maybe he is wrong…but he’s been very good in his predictions for the past years…so it looks like I may have the wonderful option of paying $1800/month to keep what I’ve had…not very attractive.</p>
<p>Supposedly the actual ACA exchange numbers will be available in the CA exchange on August 1 (a few hours and counting)…the private market will follow…I promise to keep you posted.</p>